US affiliates are screwed

[viper21]

Everyone is missing the point. The ONLY company that touches both the advertiser and the affiliate is the damn NETWORK. The FTC should go after the Networks to do their damn job of 1) policing affiliates to make sure that they're promoting truthfully (none of this crap like A4D saying "I don't want to see your page" and 2) working with advertisers that truly have efficacious products and clinical studies to back up their claims.

The real culprit in all of this is the NETWORK itself for allowing affiliates to promote this way and for allowing advertisers to sell non efficacious products. Wake up Networks and do your damn JOB for once!!!

 

[dsiomtw]

You are a truly shitty businessman and marketer if you believe this.

Sorry, you're missing my point. I'm speaking in regards to 95% of affiliates out there, not myself. As I said, I welcome all of this new enforcement and I don't rely on deception to sell shit so this doesn't affect me one bit.

 

[kingfish]

Everyone is missing the point. The ONLY company that touches both the advertiser and the affiliate is the damn NETWORK. The FTC should go after the Networks to do their damn job of 1) policing affiliates to make sure that they're promoting truthfully (none of this crap like A4D saying "I don't want to see your page" and 2) working with advertisers that truly have efficacious products and clinical studies to back up their claims.

The real culprit in all of this is the NETWORK itself for allowing affiliates to promote this way and for allowing advertisers to sell non efficacious products. Wake up Networks and do your damn JOB for once!!!

First post huh

People are making fake accounts to cry about this now?

 

[dsiomtw]

Everyone is missing the point. The ONLY company that touches both the advertiser and the affiliate is the damn NETWORK. The FTC should go after the Networks to do their damn job of 1) policing affiliates to make sure that they're promoting truthfully (none of this crap like A4D saying "I don't want to see your page" and 2) working with advertisers that truly have efficacious products and clinical studies to back up their claims.

The real culprit in all of this is the NETWORK itself for allowing affiliates to promote this way and for allowing advertisers to sell non efficacious products. Wake up Networks and do your damn JOB for once!!!

We all know this, I don't think "we" are missing the point. It has just taken the dumb ass FTC awhile to figure out how the whole ecosystem works. They are going to stat going after networks, mark my words. They already have in fact. Just look at the recent Copeac situation. Networks simply let it go because they could, and they were raking in the bucks, but it's all over now ...

 

[Hyphen]

Here's a novel idea: don't build your "business" around deceptive advertising. Stop hustling for the quick buck, think long term, and you'll be fine.

Impossible.

 

[bizzle]

 

[DrewClement]

This thread is painful to watch unfold and actually read...for a variety of reasons.

All I am going to step in and say is that this is not and will never be the end of CPA and trial offers. Could it mean a stop to 3 day trials where the customer is billed $254 before they even receive the product in the mail that is actually available for just $49.95?

Absolutely, and it's about time.

There is still nothing wrong, nor will there be any time soon, with a real free trial of a product...where the customer has a full month to try it out before choosing to cancel. If they like the product they are charged the reasonable price, market value, cost of the product at the same price point as if they would have bought it outright in the first place.

Simple, proven, effective, honest, and legitimate. Who would have thought?

 

[ThePresident]

RIP America Affiliate Marketing April-15-2011

 

[viper21]

Not crying whatsoever. I think this is good for the industry. I'm simply stating that the networks are the enablers. They're making so much money that they turn a blind eye to the business practices of their partners (both advertisers and publishers).

If a network told their advertiser, your claims aren't factual and you're not going to sell this unproven crap to American citizens, they don't sell their product. If a network told their affiliate that if they promote in this particular manner, they're not going to get paid, affiliates won't run in that manner.

But freezing an affiliate's account for profiting through deceptive means when the network equally profited from the deceptive marketing, just seems wrong in my opinion.

 

[mgtarheels]

If you're check flows through american (working with a usa affiliate company?) they could put a stop on that very quickly. You're not really protected overseas. USA is the police of the World unfortunately they sit around all day thinking up shit to screw you and can if they really wanted to.

Yes, that's the US's sole intentions - to make sure they screw you, while they sit at their desks sipping on lattes.

 

[viper21]

Wasn't COPEAC doing their own media buying using farticles? I thought this is the primary reason they were named by the FTC.

 

[jsphfcll]

yes copeac competes with its affiliates duh

and in the near future i just see advertising networks (where you buy the media) just not allowing these types of offers... it tightened when the flogs got killed and it will tighten up again now that farticles getting killed

 

[Cracker]

Wasn't COPEAC doing their own media buying using farticles? I thought this is the primary reason they were named by the FTC.

Yes. They were running offers in-house.

 

[mattaw]

How the fuck do you plan on competing for media if your compliant promotions of compliant advertisers don't convert as well as the non-compliant promotions of non-compliant advertisers that you have to compete with??

Affiliates should be creating barriers to entry, be it in the knowledge by which any affiliate promotes their campaigns, locking down unique traffic sources, creating unique offers and content, oh and by innovating and testing until I come up with compliant pages with the same if not higher EPCs (its not the case every time, but in some cases its doable fairly easily, so before you sip on that haterade, I wanted to clear that up).

If you do something that can't be easily copied, you don't have to compete with a hundred other guys doing the same thing and ripping off your stuff all the time. If you truly believe that you can't compete with non compliant promotions when as you said "the game is changing", then I think you're in the wrong business.

 

[EricVonDoobie]

Am I missing something? Doesn't this just apply to people using farticles/bull shit pre-sell landing pages? How does that equate to "US affiliates" being screwed?

 

[RockFresh]

This thread is painful to watch unfold and actually read...for a variety of reasons.

All I am going to step in and say is that this is not and will never be the end of CPA and trial offers. Could it mean a stop to 3 day trials where the customer is billed $254 before they even receive the product in the mail that is actually available for just $49.95?

Absolutely, and it's about time.

There is still nothing wrong, nor will there be any time soon, with a real free trial of a product...where the customer has a full month to try it out before choosing to cancel. If they like the product they are charged the reasonable price, market value, cost of the product at the same price point as if they would have bought it outright in the first place.

Simple, proven, effective, honest, and legitimate. Who would have thought?

Well Said..

 

[scottspfd82]

Sort of blatant self promotion...

This is an old blog post I wrote on the subject, and why if you're smart you'll just deal with it and twist it to your advantage.

I generally work directly with advertisers, but this sort of outlines how you can compete without worrying about the Government pounding you in the ass for it...

In The Long Run, This Is A Good Thing.


Fake testimonials, hyped up lies… Broken products that don’t deliver as promised. They’re all a giant black eye in this industry…


Honest marketers have to compete with these guys, and they give us ALL a bad name.


One of the BIGGEST obstacles when selling online is being believed… And by being open and honest in your marketing, if you do it the RIGHT way, it will help build trust and credibility and ultimately help conversion rates, not the other way around.


So what’s the easy answer?


Only sell products that actually help people, and that have enough positive benefits WITHOUT hype or lies that will still make people want to buy them.


If you have to use fake testimonials, if you have to make outlandish claims in your sales copy…

If you can’t figure out how to overcome these new regulations you either need new products to sell or you need to find another line of work.

Emotional Copywriting | Why The New FTC Ruling Will HELP Smart Marketers

-Scott

 

[dsiomtw]

If you do something that can't be easily copied, you don't have to compete with a hundred other guys doing the same thing and ripping off your stuff all the time. If you truly believe that you can't compete with non compliant promotions when as you said "the game is changing", then I think you're in the wrong business.

You're preaching to the choir, but you're wrong about this last part. All else being equal, I guarantee that I could out-convert you if I could use a non-compliant lander and you had to use a compliant lander. Period. I would bet my life savings on it.

 

[BigBadWolf]

The FTC can kiss my ass, casino, acai, farticles, its all good here, offshore baby!

Ill run your shit through my accounts if you want for a percentage

 

[mediasup]

If this was the case then there would only be Indian and Chinese affiliates. And every advertiser and cpa would be based overseas. At the end of the day advertisers that have a long term business don't wanna deal with shady affiliates just to get a knock on the door by some government agency. Trust me you dont want to work with advertisers that allow shady shit cause guess what bigger chance they wont pay you at the end of the day.(refer: certain cpa networks on paying) Work with legit advertisers, be open with them on what your doing and run long term. If you are a true marketer then you should be able to adapt.